First Haslab Transformers Unicron Video Review

Is this only available to backers, or will it hit mass retail as well?

I’m feeling a little salty, because during the time that this monster was getting backed I was on a religious mission trip and didn’t have a single dollar to spare on any transformers, let alone a $600 one. Now, however, I’m working a good paying full time job and would jump at any chance Hasbro gives to buy this guy again (given he’s at the same price). I know a lot of people have nitpicks and complaints about him, which is understandable for the price, but good heavens for me JUST the planet mode is worth the price of admission. Anyway, does anyone know of anyway hasbro or other companies might find a way for people like me to get a second chance at owning this at a similar price as he was originally offered? And yes, I know resellers and scalpers will be reselling this on eBay for way too much. So I’m hoping for any other chance that won’t sacrifice my entire month’s paycheck.

TOO MUCH ENERGON! wrote:Is this only available to backers, or will it hit mass retail as well?

Only backers. This thing isn't fit for mass retail standards.

I can't wait for the $100 knock off. Seriously did we really need eyes that could move or timy ships and figurines

Master Farr 1 wrote:I can't wait for the $100 knock off. Seriously did we really need eyes that could move or timy ships and figurines

Back when the backing window was open, people kept demanding Hasbro put in more and more features and gimmicks to get their money's worth out of it.

Does anyone know if this Unicron can stand in robot form without its stand? I don’t have a display cabinet that would fit the dimensions of the support stand...

Needs more kibble.

Solrac333 wrote:Needs more kibble.

Just head over to you local pet store for some.

Copyright82 wrote:Does anyone know if this Unicron can stand in robot form without its stand? I don’t have a display cabinet that would fit the dimensions of the support stand...

I believe I remember Warden saying that Unicron had some amount (whether it be full or limited) of poseability without the stand.

Sabrblade wrote:

Master Farr 1 wrote:I can't wait for the $100 knock off. Seriously did we really need eyes that could move or timy ships and figurines

Back when the backing window was open, people kept demanding Hasbro put in more and more features and gimmicks to get their money's worth out of it.

Honestly the gimmick I really wanted them to have with this one, was an eyepiece that had the quintesson ship blasting into it. That would have been great for display.

I couldn't pre-order this so I have no skin in the game, but I'd be mighty peeved to find out etailers overseas are getting this figure and I have to wait a month. I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

Here's another one. Unboxing and building experience.https://youtu.be/JYkC8R-BH4c

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I couldn't pre-order this so I have no skin in the game, but I'd be mighty peeved to find out etailers overseas are getting this figure and I have to wait a month. I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

I can wait to be happy next month, and I can be happy fotr those who already have their hands on it. I suffer no harm if someone else gets it sooner than me.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I couldn't pre-order this so I have no skin in the game, but I'd be mighty peeved to find out etailers overseas are getting this figure and I have to wait a month. I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

I'm assuming shipping boxes from Vietnam to China is quicker than by boat to the US.

Silence, I eat you.

Very shiny and impressive. The fly paper strips still look bad but no doubt there will be more reviews that might show them removed. The Hastak employees...erm...third party upgrades for this thing will cost a fortune, maybe some clip on light up abs with the correct amount. Planets maw teeth should have been solid or included fillers. it's going to make Zetas look tiny at any rate.

So am I the only one that feels the guy is a bit weird the way he fondles the box and each part.

william-james88 wrote:

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I couldn't pre-order this so I have no skin in the game, but I'd be mighty peeved to find out etailers overseas are getting this figure and I have to wait a month. I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

I'm assuming shipping boxes from Vietnam to China is quicker than by boat to the US.

Agreed, but at the same time I don't like being outright lied to by Hasbro. Just a couple days ago they said...

We are wrapping up the final production and packaging on your HasLab War For Cybertron Unicron and will begin shipping to you in late March. The packaging and shipping process is a multi-person undertaking, and of course, we want to ensure The Lord of Chaos arrives to you undamaged!

But we can now see that that was clearly not the truth.

Look, Hasbro, we get it, there's a pandemic and shipping is delayed. Just tell the truth, tell us that you need an extra month to get these out of Asia. Don't feed us some lie about still tweaking the packaging to get it just right. Honestly, a lot of people weren't expecting this until Spring, not too many people are going to care that it's shipping in late March.

Emerje

I’m happy for all the backers. I hope it is everything they imagined it would be and worth every penny. This is the best time to be a Transformers collector!!!!!

I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

After watching this I am so glad my more sensible nature told me not to drop money and back it. Maybe it is nice for some but after seeing it presented like this especially with a head that is not even connected.. Nope. I am happy that backers are getting their Unicron but it is honestly not for me.

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

Besides, Planet Cybertron was way bigger than Unicron in the movie.

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I couldn't pre-order this so I have no skin in the game, but I'd be mighty peeved to find out etailers overseas are getting this figure and I have to wait a month. I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

I'm fine with waiting a bit. I'm more annoyed at the maw's color change. I wonder if Reprolabels can make a sticker fix for some of it.

Sabrblade wrote:They changed the color of his maw from yellow/orange to blue.

This is a big bummer to me, as is the black plastic on his butt also. There were some design flaws that I had kept quiet about with this toy, including the panel cuts especially in planet mode with the "square" cuts around the circular "maw", which from a design or artistic aesthetic has bothered me since day one. I kept my mouth shut. But the final production piece having 2 major issues is a big bummer when we've spent this much money on this toy.

This isn't a regular retail figure that cost $20. This is a $600 toy that we made happen. It should be right ... at a minimum, we should be getting what we were shown without deviations. I expect these kind of glaring problems from the previous BotCon convention exclusives but not from official Hasbro or Takara Tomy products.

Of course I'll love this toy flaws and all. Unicron is still an amazing figure regardless. It's just a bummer to spend this much and get something with flaws on it instead of just being able to enjoy it the way we signed up for it. Hopefully someone will figure out how to show us how to paint these pieces or something ... but again, we shouldn't be having to customize a $600 figure. Or maybe Hasbro will offer up a fix for this since we all spent a lot of money on this.

Also saw in a video that it looks like Unicron's lower teeth aren't painted either but that seemed like less of a concern to me because you can take a silver sharpie to that.

Sabrblade wrote:Besides, Planet Cybertron was way bigger than Unicron in the movie.

Ok, not everything needs to be in scale. I certainly hope no one expects planet mode Unicron to be in scale with the Kingdom Autobot Ark toy. Unicron is still wildly out-of-scale. I'd gladly take a Primus toy to go alongside the Chaos Bringer.

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice. But I agree, no Primus. I'd rather see them do something like a proper stab at Fort Max for maybe $400 which is only a little more than we paid for the Encore.

Emerje

chuckdawg1999 wrote:I doubt that the orders from stores like Robot Kingdom and BBTS pushed Unicron over the required order goal. Nobody but the individual backers should be getting this.

It might not have been those two retailers specifically, but I'm pretty sure that's exactly what happened from what I've heard various retailers saying based on their order numbers. They gambled hugely, we all got Unicron, and their gamble will turn into a payday for them since a lot of people didn't order it for $600 but are now willing to pay $1,500. Go figure.

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

Transformers is plenty big enough. I'm sure we'll get another HasLab exclusive later down the road. Personally, I'm rooting for HasLab Devcon.

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

A bigger property that Hasbro has to pay out the nose to license, they can do whatever they want with Transformers for free.

Emerje

Something on a smaller scale, sure.

But another $600 giant? Y'all really wanna play this game a second time?

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

A bigger property that Hasbro has to pay out the nose to license, they can do whatever they want with Transformers for free.

Emerje

Not necessarily. Pretty sure the "manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." doesn't mean entirely "free". I'm sure there are strings attached, though much better than licensing Star Wars toys from Lucasfilm/Disney.

Sabrblade wrote:Something on a smaller scale, sure.

But another $600 giant? Y'all really wanna play this game a second time?

You've changed what you're saying. No, I don't think we'll get another $600 toy any time soon. A smaller HasLab Transformers toy? Maybe if we're lucky. Lots they can do before a Divorce Class II Primus.

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

A bigger property that Hasbro has to pay out the nose to license, they can do whatever they want with Transformers for free.

Emerje

As stated before, the brand is de jure owned by TakaraTomy believe it or not but Hasbro is putting in most of the design work. Comparing it to Star Wars is kinda comparing apples and oranges, as Star Wars is a movie franchise first and foremost, plus the fans are of a different caliber. Hell, they have an official Jedi religion in Australia, only Star Trek's Klingon language could top that. What do we have?

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Something on a smaller scale, sure.

But another $600 giant? Y'all really wanna play this game a second time?

You've changed what you're saying. No, I don't think we'll get another $600 toy any time soon. A smaller HasLab Transformers toy? Maybe if we're lucky. Lots they can do before a Divorce Class II Primus.

The original inquiry was asking about another Unicron-sized figure. That's what I was referring to. Something of that enormity doesn't seem likely to happen again.

Sabrblade wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Something on a smaller scale, sure.

But another $600 giant? Y'all really wanna play this game a second time?

You've changed what you're saying. No, I don't think we'll get another $600 toy any time soon. A smaller HasLab Transformers toy? Maybe if we're lucky. Lots they can do before a Divorce Class II Primus.

The original inquiry was asking about another Unicron-sized figure. That's what I was referring to. Something of that enormity doesn't seem likely to happen again.

Ack. Sorry. I even quoted your comment about "something on a smaller scale, sure." Sorry Sabrblade.

Of course, thinking more about it, something on a smaller scale might beg the question of why not just putting it in one of the many normal lines or releasing it as a normal retailer exclusive.

To use the Devcon example, why wouldn't they make a new Devcon at, say, Deluxe or Voyager class and just put it in either a mass retail Generations line or as a retailer exclusive (e.g. - Amazon, Hasbro Pulse, etc.)? Why would it take the likes of HasLab to release such a normal-sized figure?

Seibertron wrote:... but again, we shouldn't be having to customize a $600 figure. Or maybe Hasbro will offer up a fix for this since we all spent a lot of money on this.

"Having to"

Sabrblade wrote:Of course, thinking more about it, something on a smaller scale might beg the question of why not just putting it in one of the many normal lines or releasing it as a normal retailer exclusive.

To use the Devcon example, why wouldn't they make a new Devcon at, say, Deluxe or Voyager class and just put it in either a mass retail Generations line or as a retailer exclusive (e.g. - Amazon, Hasbro Pulse, etc.)? Why would it take the likes of HasLab to release such a normal-sized figure?

I was exaggerating and agree with u. Just looking for something special.

Seibertron wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:Of course, thinking more about it, something on a smaller scale might beg the question of why not just putting it in one of the many normal lines or releasing it as a normal retailer exclusive.

To use the Devcon example, why wouldn't they make a new Devcon at, say, Deluxe or Voyager class and just put it in either a mass retail Generations line or as a retailer exclusive (e.g. - Amazon, Hasbro Pulse, etc.)? Why would it take the likes of HasLab to release such a normal-sized figure?

I was exaggerating and agree with u. Just looking for something special.

(checks the vid) The lower teeth aren't painted? Geez. I guess it to match the faceless head, but come on, guys. If this were 3P I'd have expected it to be painted. I don't think I want to sharpie my $600 Transformer. I'll sticker it, though.

I don't think Primus would be worth it. Not to me, at least. As a character he's not nearly as important. Not every TF needs a rival.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I'd be interested in mass production of the G1 Unicron Prototype. Not for the same amount of money, but I'd back it. If they needed to add more, they could finish the G1 Arcee prototype (with the same inaccurate colors) so people could have a complete G1 movie cast in G1 form. It may be the same character, but it fills a totally different niche and is a real piece of history. I don't think it'd ever happen, though.

I hope that there is a plain outer box to this so the couriers don't smash that printed one up!

Now, a TakaraTomy Generations Selects redeco of Commander class Rodimus Prime as Primus, that would be golden.

Hooooooo boy this is uh...well, I'm sure glad I didn't back this thing.

I was already skeptical from the original campaign for reasons I won't bother repeating in detail (TLDR: amateurish looking shellformery backpacky transformation) but having seen the changes to the production version, notably the blue maw (inb4 CWC comparisons), the unpainted lower teeth, the visibile screwholes on the front where they literally just made two of the same arm, the inhalable-class Rodimus and Galvatron being even more useless and low effort than they already were, the unpainted inner fingers, etc etc etc, yeah I'm glad I kept my £500. The maw is particularly sad because the thing this really had going for it was the pretty impressive planet mode...and they screwed it up with an entirely pointless change.

I hope anyone that backed it is happy with it. Because from where I'm standing this looks like a complete disaster.

As someone who did actually want and buy the figure, none of the complaints I've seen so far have remotely diminished my interest. I do not know why there were minor paint changes, but since my job isn't manufacturing, selling, and distributing toys, I'm not going to pretend I know better than Hasbro.

The internet was practically invented for complaining, so I'm not going to stand in judgement. If anyone genuinely feels cheated that the product isn't worth the $600 they've committed for it, I'll be happy to pay you that amount to take it off your hands, and you won't have to feel disappointed anymore.

Sad that even something like this could end up with paint shortages and mold layout limits. Maybe this will be a case of flawed early examples and the rest of the run was tweaked, but doesn't seem likely.

I kinda have mixed feelings about the blue parts of the maw - on the one hand, it's absolutely inaccurate. On the other hand, it does prevent the area from looking like an orange blob.

I understand why they did the shellformer thing - trying to do the finalized robot mode design and have it transform into a spherical planet demands a compromise of some form or other, whether it be that or the pods and shell-wings the Armada mold has. Especially if you want the planet to look complete. Unicron's finalized robot mode from the movie is just THAT badly cheated.
The shell pieces look to be less in the way the ones Armada Unicron has on his back, so that's a definite plus IMO.

The wing integration looks good, still, and there's still that very nice planet mode stand.

I'm still satisfied with the Armada mold, myself. But that's definitely a case of me settling for "Good enough" - there are some definite design superiorities to this one.

Regarding the idea of a Planet-class Primus... I honestly don't see that as being likely to happen. But if they do do it, it'd be a lot more straightforward to develop and would not have to resort to shellforming to capture the screen design. Because, well, the major appearance of Primus-as-Cybertron in robot mode is in Transformers: Cybertron. And thus, it would basically be an enhanced upscale of the 2006 Supreme-class toy.
Wonder if they'd use miniatures of the colony ships as incentive pieces. Or include a cardboard version Cybertron's version of the Ark.

Seibertron wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

A bigger property that Hasbro has to pay out the nose to license, they can do whatever they want with Transformers for free.

Emerje

Not necessarily. Pretty sure the "manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." doesn't mean entirely "free". I'm sure there are strings attached, though much better than licensing Star Wars toys from Lucasfilm/Disney.

I'm guessing the trade off is that Takara Tomy gets to use Hasbro's trademarks. I doubt there's much in the way of rights money being passed between the two. Seems like something we would have heard about during one of their investors meetings. Might be a question worth asking at some point.

Emerje

Emerje wrote:

Seibertron wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Emerje wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

Rodimus Prime wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Primus/Cybertron eventually. Or is he not a high-enough profile character?

This is more than likely just a one-off. Most franchises don't get multiple crowdfunded items of this high-end price.

If HasLab can do Star Wars twice then I don't see why they can't do Transformers twice.

Star Wars is a much bigger property than Transformers.

A bigger property that Hasbro has to pay out the nose to license, they can do whatever they want with Transformers for free.

Emerje

Not necessarily. Pretty sure the "manufactured under license from TOMY Company, Ltd." doesn't mean entirely "free". I'm sure there are strings attached, though much better than licensing Star Wars toys from Lucasfilm/Disney.

I'm guessing the trade off is that Takara Tomy gets to use Hasbro's trademarks. I doubt there's much in the way of rights money being passed between the two. Seems like something we would have heard about during one of their investors meetings. Might be a question worth asking at some point.

Emerje

More like gets to use whatever molds Hasbro commissions, due to how copyright law works (that's how we got the Sky Lynx reissue). See my previous post for the Star Wars bit.

Well, actually, we got the Sky Lynx reissue because Toybox (who Hasbro licensed it from) so happened to have subcontracted making the Mechabot-1 and Shuttle Dinosaur molds to Tomy, and so Tomy retained possession of them. And they were rediscovered during a warehouse inventory.

Can't wait to see the ridiculous secondary market valuation for this figure.

ZeldaTheSwordsman wrote:Well, actually, we got the Sky Lynx reissue because Toybox (who Hasbro licensed it from) so happened to have subcontracted making the Mechabot-1 and Shuttle Dinosaur molds to Tomy, and so Tomy retained possession of them. And they were rediscovered during a warehouse inventory.

Exactly my point. Copyright defaulted to Tomy, then TakaraTomy upon merger.